University of Hawai'i baseball coach Mike Trapasso will be offered a contract extension after guiding the Rainbows to their first Western Athletic Conference title in 18 years yesterday.

UH defeated four-time defending tournament champion Fresno State, 9-6, in Mesa, Ariz. and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Athletic director Jim Donovan said he will meet with Trapasso, whose one-year extension was to expire next month, after the 'Bows conclude their season. Trapasso, whose salary is a reported $135,000, is in his ninth season at UH.

"All I can say is I'm very lucky and very blessed to be coaching at Hawai'i and coaching these players," Trapasso said in an e-mail. "Tonight though ... it's always about the kids ... not me."

Softball coach Bob Coolen, who piloted the Rainbow Wahine to the Women's College World Series, is midway through a five-year contract.

UH hasn't won a WAC baseball title — regular or postseason — since 1992 and their last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2006.

Campus sources said Trapasso would not have been retained had the 'Bows not reached the postseason.

Donovan declined to comment on what Trapasso's fate might have been but said, "I gave him a call to congratulate him after the game. I'm very proud of him, the staff and the players and their accomplishments."

Donovan said he told Trapasso last year upon granting the controversial extension that the coach would get another one if he took the 'Bows to the postseason as WAC champions or as an at-large team.

"We'll talk about an extension the next couple of weeks," said Donovan, who declined to say how much of an extension he was considering.

Trapasso is 278-242 in nine seasons, seven of which have been winning campaigns.